Tag Archives: Writing

A Year in Books/Day 187: Grammatically Correct

Posted on by
8
  • Title: Grammatically Correct The WRITER’S ESSENTIAL GUIDE to punctuation, spelling, style, usage and grammar
  • Author: Anne Stilman
  • Year Published: 1997 (Writer’s Digest Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2002/2003
  • Source: Writer’s Digest Book Club
  • About: This volume is essential. It’s like taking a refresher course in grammar without having to socialize with anyone. I enjoy that. I’m guilty of knowingly flouting some of the rules in the book but at least I am aware of my transgressions. You should be, too.
  • Motivation: A writer needs reference books. Many, many reference books.
  • Times Read: Cover-to-cover: a few/As reference tool: countless
  • Random Excerpt/Page vi: “For one thing, I’ve sought to liven up what can be a somewhat dusty subject by excerpting passages from very quotable literary works, both classic and modern. Academic explanations of how to use a certain punctuation mark or stylistic technique are all very well, but a “real-life” illustration can be a lot more convincing-and entertaining. My thanks here to all those authors whose work I have cited.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

Daily Diversion #31: This is the easy time…*

Posted on by
2

Holed up in a beam of sunshine. Earl Grey on the side, steam lifting from its dark surface. A fugitive book that’s been on my to-read list for 9 years.

Wintering by Kate Moses

Wintering by Kate Moses

Captured from Daedalus for $2.98.Turned in to a reason to get up early, when the sun dazzles without heat. Doing its part to wake me. Efficient. Now I can read.

The perfect combination, rendered wistful. Out of reach.

The perfect combination, rendered wistful. Out of reach.

In the company of words, time is pliable. Plastic. Continue reading →

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 1st-3rd August

Posted on by
10
  • Herman Melville was born on 8/1/1819. “A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.”
  • James Baldwin was born on 8/2/1924. “Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.”
  • Wallace Stevens died on 8/2/1955. “As life grows more terrible, its literature grows more terrible.”
  • Donald Ogden Stewart died on 8/2/1980. Stewart was a playwright-turned-screenwriter. He won an Academy Award for his adaptation of Philip Barry’s play, The Philadelphia Story.
  • William S. Burroughs died on 8/2/1997. “Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.”
  • Ernie Pyle was born on 8/3/1900. “War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.”
  • Joseph Conrad died on 8/3/1924. “An artist is a man of action, whether he creates a personality, invents an expedient, or finds the issue of a complicated situation.”
  • Colette died on 8/3/1954. “A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts.”
  • Flannery O’Connor died on 8/3/1964. “I am not afraid that the book will be controversial, I am afraid it will not be controversial.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

[All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain.]

 

A Year in Books/Day 184: QB VII (or, A Book in My Collection I Do Not Like)

Posted on by
4
  • Title: QB VII
  • Author: Leon Uris
  • Year Published: 1970 (Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: Book Harbor, Westerville, Ohio
  • About: QB VII is proof that I do not love (or even like) everything in my collection. There are a few odd volumes I’ve kept on after discovering I really do not like their contents. This is one of those rarities. I don’t object to the flashbacks, legal proceedings or courtroom setting; if I did, I never would have selected this for my initiation into the writings of Leon Uris. That bitch known as hindsight thinks I should probably have started with Exodus or Topaz, but it is far too late now. Continue reading →

[News] Gore Vidal is Dead

Posted on by
13

“Many writers who choose to be active in the world lose not virtue but time, and that stillness without which literature cannot be made.”-Gore Vidal (1925-2012)

 
One day, I hope that the deaths of famous authors is considered new worthy in this country. Oh, who am I kidding? Suri Cruise visiting Disney World is, and will remain, way more important. Carry on.

Daily Diversion #29: A Riverside Perambulation

Posted on by
4

My mom was in town this weekend. I didn’t write anything, but I exchanged ideas with the clouds hanging over the river.

Riverfront view across to Kentucky.

Riverfront view across to Kentucky.

Hardier souls in running shoes were doing drills up and down the stairs. We sat, staring off into the distance or talking. The clouds were almost close enough to pluck from the sky.

Riverfront Steps, Clouds Through the Bridge

Riverfront Steps, Clouds Through the Bridge

We walked for miles, and met some very strange creatures…

A Pig Statue (it's a Cincinnati thing)

A Pig Statue (it’s a Cincinnati thing)

Clouds hovering over the Princess Diana Tiara on Queen City Tower.

Archway, with a Sliver of Skyline in the Distance

Archway, with a Sliver of Skyline in the Distance

One sunburn and several lovely memories later, I’m ready to hit the keyboard again.

 

 

Day Dreams and Night Parades: Why Writers Are Always Surrounded by Dead People

Posted on by
8

DAY DREAMS/                                                                                                                                                   There were two trees I loved as a child. They lived less than an acre apart, but never met. This made me sad, as I was certain they would get along if the chance ever came. I tried making introductions, but whenever I broached the subject they were too busy doing secretive tree things that I did not understand.

The Front Yard Tree thrived on the imaginations of little girls. Continue reading →

Alternative Muse of the Month News-Katherine Mansfield Edition

Posted on by
1

Four Katherine Mansfield short stories were recently discovered by a college student, along with several photographs. All were previously unknown. This is fantastic news for fans of Katherine Mansfield and students of the short story. If you are pleased or titillated by this news, thank Chris Mourant. Kudos, sir!